The team behind the famous Bristol restaurant Casamia have confirmed they are launching a new venue. This month, renowned chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias will open Casa, on the former site of his Michelin-starred family restaurant in Bristol.
Casamia closed permanently on August 20, 2022, due to its "financial unviability", a restaurant where a meal for two would set you back £360 for its luxurious 20 courses, which BristolLive awarded five stars in 2021. At the time, Mr Sanchez-Iglesias said that his family - who have a 30-year history in the restaurant industry - planned to open a more casual restaurant at the same site as soon as this Christmas.
The team says it will be "a contemporary, accessible, yet refined take on traditional Italian dining, acting as a sibling to Peter’s Michelin-starred Spanish institution Paco Tapas next door". Casa will be 66-cover restaurant that will offer a similarly relaxed environment with a dynamic menu created by Peter and executive chef Joel Breakwell, who has been with sister restaurant Paco for three years, showcasing a blend of the best Italian and British ingredients.
Read more: Bristol pub and restaurant both crowned best Sunday lunch spots in the UK
Casa's menu, which will offer daily specials, will reprise traditional Italian dishes starting with antipasti bites followed by a seasonal selection of pasta plates, with classics such as their signature potato ravioli. The new restaurant promises the fish courses will use the best produce in the South West, while the meat courses will channel indulgent Italian classics such as slow-cooked veal ossobuco and a sharing portion of steak florentine. For sweet, the team will reprise their famous house tiramisu, pine nut panna cotta, and lemon sorbet.
The reimagined restaurant is housed in a Grade II-listed building on the site of a former hospital right next door to the family's successful tapas restaurant, Paco Tapas. Casa will see a dramatic change from Casamia’s previous black interiors and the space will be fully opened up to overlook the harbourside.
Diners will be able to drop in for a plate of pasta and a glass of wine or indulge in the Chef's menu in full. There will also be seating at the restaurant’s bar and counter spaces, serving snacks and cocktails.
Casa will open on Friday, November 18 and is already taking reservations. Opening hours will be Friday - Saturday for lunch and Wednesday - Saturday for the dinner sitting.
The General, Lower Guinea Street, Bristol, BS1 6FU
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